EVALUATING IMPACTS OF WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT ON LIVELIHOOD AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF TRIBALS IN AKOLE TAHSIL OF AHMEDNAGAR DISTRICT

Abstract: Livelihood and socio-economic development are the most important indices of development of tribal agrarian communities particularly those in rainfed areas. Even in the 21st century, the livelihood of the tribal people seems to be traditional and still there is no change in recent years. The income of various tribal groups in India is mainly generated from the land, livestock, cottage industries, forest collection, etc., which depend heavily on inputs like water, fodder, fibre, fuel-wood and forest products. The gradual soil erosion and sinking of these natural resources are one of the basic reasons behind the higher incidence of poverty among the tribal people. To mitigate the hardships and improve the standard of living of the tribal people of the country, the Indian government is vigorously implementing various schemes for rural and tribal development. Watershed Development Programme is one of the strategic programmes, from which efforts are made to minimize the soil erosion, conserve available water, avoid gully formation and thereby improve the soil fertility by which the farmers can gain a good level of income. Through this programme, the beneficiary farmers are guided to use the improved technologies of agriculture by which the farmers can derive better crop yields, obtain sustained returns on their investments and elevate their living standards. This paper presents the impact of the watershed project on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries in terms of change in agricultural production and productivity, change in cropping intensity and cropping pattern, change in employment, and overall change in socio-economic status and agricultural development of tribal people of selected villages from Akole tahsil of Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state. The assessment and impact of the watershed project on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries showed that there was a marked increase in agricultural production and productivity in the study area compared to the base year. Similarly, the beneficiaries have diversified their agriculture, the mainstay of their livelihood, and are producing more oilseeds, pulses and vegetables rather than traditional cereal crops like Paddy, Nachani, Wari etc. Further, the study also demonstrates that there is a remarkable improvement in the income and socio-economic status of the beneficiary farmers compared to that of non-beneficiary farmers of the study area